130 UONS AND BUFFALOES. 



general the lion's voice seems to come deeper from the 

 chest than that of the ostrich ; but to this day I can 

 distinguish between them with certainty only by knowing 

 that the ostrich roars by day and the Hon by night. 



The African Hon is of a tawny colour, like that of some 

 mastiffs. The mane in the male is large, and gives the 

 idea of great power. In some lions the ends of the hair of 

 the mane are black ; these go by the name of black- 

 in aned lions, though as a whole all look of the yellow 

 tawny colour. At the time of the discovery of the lake, 

 Messrs. Oswell and Wilson shot two specimens of another 

 variety. One was an old Hon, whose teeth were mere 

 stumps, and his claws worn quite blunt ; the other was 

 full grown, in the prime of life, with white perfect teeth ; 

 both were entirely destitute of mane. The lions, in the 

 country near the lake, give tongue less than those further 

 south. We scarcely ever heard them roar at all. 



The lion has other checks on inordinate increase besides 

 man. He seldom attacks full-grown animals ; but fre- 

 quently, when a buffalo calf is caught by him, the cow 

 rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often kills him. 

 One we found was killed thus ; and on the Leeambye 

 another, which died near Sesheke, had all the appearance of 

 having received his death-blow from a buffalo. It is 

 questionable if a single hon ever attacks a full-grown 

 buffalo. The amount of roaring heard at night, on occa- 

 sions when a buffalo is killed, seems to indicate there are 

 always more than one hon engaged in the onslaught. 



On the plain, south of Sebituane's ford, a herd of 

 buffaloes kept a number of lions from their young by the 

 males turning their heads to the enemy. The young and 

 the cows were in the rear. One toss from a bull would 

 kill the strongest lion that ever breathed. I have been 

 informed that in one part of India even the tame buffaloes 

 feel their superiority to some wild animals, for they have 

 been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as if they 

 enjoyed the sport. Lions never go near any elephants 

 except the calves, which, when young, are sometimes torn 

 by them ;. every living thing retires before the lordly 

 elephant, yet a full-grown one would be an easier prey 

 than the rhinoceros ; the Hon rushes off at the mere sight 

 of this latter beast. 



In the country adjacent to Mashue great numbers of 

 different kinds of mice exist. The ground is often so 



